Apple Now Third In Mobile PC Share

Apple’s iPad
has helped the company grab 12.4 percent
of the worldwide mobile PC market, according
to DisplaySearch.

However, a study by Strategy Analytics
indicates the influx of competing, less
expensive products next year could curb
some of Apple’s growth.

The 12.4 percent pushed Apple passed
Dell, which garnered 11 percent of the mobile
PC market in the third quarter. Hewlett-
Packard retained the top spot, with 17.3 percent
of the market, but second-place Acer
closed the gap with a 16.5 percent share.

Toshiba was a distant fifth place, with 8
percent of the market.

The DisplaySearch report gave the iPad
full credit for Apple’s upward momentum,
noting the lack of a competitive product
gives Apple the edge right now, said Chris
Connery, DisplaySearch’s VP of large format
displays.

However, this could change next year.

“As other players come to market with tablet PCs,
it will be interesting to see if they can move beyond the
Western-centric nature of Apple’s product and develop
an infrastructure to support local needs, especially with
the growth of consumer spending in China on personal
computing devices,” he said.

Strategy Analytics says that
in 2010, 11.4 million tablets at
an average retail selling price
of $600 will be sold in the
U.S. Mainly Apple’s iPad and
Samsung’s Galaxy tablet.

Already Acer and ViewSonic
have announced tablets
that will ship during the first
half, and many other companies
will show tablets at CES
next month.

The Strategy Analytics survey:
Apple’s iPad: Users, Buying
Intentions and Price Expectations
offers strong evidence
that other technology firms
such as Blackberry/RIM, Samsung
and Motorola should be
able use their own brand loyalty
to tap into the burgeoning
demand for tablet devices.

The Strategy Analytics report strongly hinted Apple may
find the iPad under increasing pressure from these and
other lower priced tablets that will hit the market in 2011.
The research firm’s survey of 4,800 people in the U.S. and
Europe found most expected to pay less than $500 for a
tablet device.

Strategy Analytics principle analyst David Mercer
postulated that since the iPad starting price is
at the upper edge of what many want to pay the
iPad will see its first true competition in the market.

“As tablets from other major brands begin to
arrive we expect price competition to heat up,
and many consumers tell us they are waiting for
lower-priced devices,” said Mercer.

Other findings in the Strategy Analytics study
found iPad purchasers are not coming just from
the ranks of Apple product owners. For example
only 22 percent of iPad owners have an iPhone.
The survey also discovered that iPad owners
were most likely to own a computer from Acer
or Dell and more people expect to buy an iPad
in the next 12 month than either a PlayStation 3
or Xbox game console.